Blair 'fuelled Islamophobia'

The first ever Muslim Miss England has launched a scathing attack on Tony Blair for creating a stereotypical impression of Islam and fuelling negative attitudes towards Muslims.

Nineteen-year-old Hammasa Kohistani, whose family fled the Afghan Taliban regime, slammed the prime minister for comments made in the wake of the London bombings on July 7th last year.

Speaking as she returned to college to study for her A-levels, Ms Kohistani said: "Tony Blair addressed Muslims in particular, telling them that they need to sort out the problem within.

"That was a huge stereotype of the Islamic community. Even the more moderate Muslims have been stereotyped negatively and feel they have to take actions to prove themselves."

It was the responsibility of the "moderate majority" of Muslims to tackle extremism in their communities, Mr Blair told MPs last month.

"You cannot defeat this extremism through what a government does. You can only defeat it within a community," he argued.